Owning up to it. Tyrese Gibson took to Instagram on Friday, April 14, to apologize for comments he made about “promiscuous women,” after receiving major backlash for the misogynistic tone of his remarks.
The Fate of the Furious actor, 38, shared a professional photo of himself with a somber expression, accompanied by a lengthy caption expressing his remorse for the controversial statements he made in an interview with BET.com published on Monday, April 10. The hunky star, who was asked to share his opinion about the nuances of relationships in 2017, infuriated fans when he discussed “sluts, skeezers, hoes, tramps, and overly aggressive promiscuous women,” who “are never without a man because they don’t have no standards.” He added, “They ready to have sex with any and everything that want to have sex with them.”
Acknowledging the insensitivity of his comments, Gibson wrote, “My mother taught me better than this….. lesson learned in life you will learn that It’s not always ‘what’ you say, it’s the ‘how’ we choose to say it. For the record I’m far from a misogynist, a male chauvinist or flat out mean….. My intentions were there but my delivery f–king horrible…. And clearly all the way off…. And for that I sincerely apologize to all of the ladies.”
The former male model went on to explain that he has made similar statements in past interviews, but has never been hit with such harsh criticism. Still, he insisted that he is very sorry for what he said during his one-on-one with BET.com. “Please accept this as my sincere apology for my poor choice of words — s–t gets real when it goes from a social media dragging to my own wife [Samantha Lee Gibson] giving me the side eye and coming at me, even she’s not happy with the way I’ve conducted myself.”
He continued: “I want to truly say that I’m sorry, I’m not APOLOGIZING in an effort to be politically correct, I apologize as a man first for the things that I’ve recently said about choices women have the right to make, for the terms that I’ve used and the way I’ve come across. I was raised to think and feel certain ways, and I’m learning new things that combat those messages. I am not perfect or all knowing, nor am I the one to claim to be. I’ve learned things through experience which I share, and through these last couple of weeks, I’ve learned a lot through this well deserved internet dragging…… This is about a man owning up to his actions, taking responsibility, recognizing how to do better, and actually doing better. Ladies you deserve better…”
Following his interview with BET.com, Gibson was lambasted on social media for his comments, which many considered a form of “slut-shaming.” One angry Twitter user wrote, “Tyrese plz stop with this slut-shaming business. Not a good look hunni,” while another fumed, “I hope Tyrese’s slut-shaming gets him fired from the Fast and the Furious movies!!”
The Fate of the Furious is now playing in theaters nationwide.
